Can Lightning Strike the Same Place Twice
by Miss Olivia Cellophane
Summary: With Kurt in NY Blaine is desperate to see him. So he spends his spare time in an alternate universe that is three years behind landing him smack in the Pilot. He thinks he'll have no problem winning Kurt over a year early but he doesn't account for Kurt's mega-crush on Finn.
1. Chapter 1

"Lightning never strikes the same place twice." That's how the saying goes. But places like the Empire State Building are struck by lightning about a hundred times a year. Yet the saying prevails. Why do people still say that? I guess the question really isn't so much _can_ lightning strike the same place twice, but _will_ it?

Chapter One: Pilot - Part One

_Blaine dug through his closet. At last he found what he was looking for. The outfit he'd worn his first day at McKinley. He swapped the yellow-rimmed sunglasses for his hot pink shades. He hoped it would make the right impression. No time to think. It was nine pm here which meant it was eight-thirty in the AU. Eight-thirty am, McKinley High, Lima, Ohio, September, 2009, Alternate Universe. Kurt would be sixteen. Anything was possible._

Blaine trotted down the side-walk un-able to contain his excitement. He couldn't wait to see Kurt again. To at least hug him. To hold him in his arms once again. Up ahead he could see Kurt, Finn and Puck surrounded by football players. _ Oh dear._ Practically extinct by the time Blaine transferred to McKinley he had nonetheless heard horror stories about dumpster tossing from his fellow Glee-Clubbers. It was obvious these three were about to get it. Mr. Schue was there and Blaine could hear him chattering about Kurt making new friends and Finn's homework being overdue._ God adults can be blind. _Blaine unhooked the pink glasses from his belt and put them on.

"Hey guys." Blaine called out cheerily. Inside his heart was racing. How would Kurt react to him showing up a good fourteen months early? Puck had moved to stand on Kurt's right so Blaine slipped between the football goons to stand on his left. "Are these people giving you a hard time?" Kurt would surely like him if he saved him from bullies. "We're a match for them. Finn, Puck, if you wouldn't mind backing me up?" Why was Kurt looking at him like he was crazy? Why did Finn look so uncomfortable? Why was Puck sneering?

"I think Newbie here needs to be initiated into loser-dom." What was Puck talking about? Why was Azimio stepping forward like he was under Puck's command? Than Puck grabbed his arms and Azimio grabbed his feet and it became horrifyingly clear that Puck and Finn weren't the ones who were going to get tossed into the dumpster. He was.

_Rats and I dressed up a bit too._ Blaine landed in a shallow mass of junk. Trying not to think about what he was covered in Blaine got to his feet. Crouching so his head didn't rise above the top of the dumpster. _What am I supposed to do now? _ He brushed himself off. _How can I make a good impression and help Kurt like this? _Outside he could hear Puck saying:

"Is he coming out? Ah well, let's just toss Hummel in on top of him." _Oh no. How can I stop this?_ Blaine could hear Kurt pleading on behalf of his jacket and then Finn cried,

"Wait." _Great, Finn gets all the glory, but at least Kurt's safe._ Then he heard the jacket being unzipped and Finn saying, "Okay." _So much for that. What can I do? Kurt's too big for me to catch… I'll have to try. Maybe I can help him land upright. _ As Kurt came sailing over the top of the dumpster Blaine held out his arms and…

…caught him. _Of course, Kurt's only sixteen. He's way smaller than eighteen-year-old Kurt._

"Hey, that actually worked, I can actually-" Then Blaine's knees buckled and he sat down painfully on a pile of trash.


	2. Chapter 2

"The other guys just caught lightning in a bottle with a great game." - Rick Pitino

Chapter Two: Pilot - Part Two

Kurt climbed awkwardly out of the new guys arms. It was nice that he'd helped Kurt out but, seriously. Still it had kept Kurt's clothes from getting dirty. But this whole incident left more questions than Kurt liked. Why was this boy so keen on helping him? Why did he act like he knew them? They clambered out of the dumpster. Odd or not, Kurt did owe this guy. He sized the new-comer up. How did you thank a friendly – and admittedly good-looking – guy for trying to stick up for you and ending up catching you bridal-style in his arms when you didn't know so much as his first name.

"Um. Well, thanks…"

"Blaine." The guy, Blaine, stuck out his hand.

"Thank you Blaine." He took off the hot-pink sunglasses and fiddled with them nervously. Kurt had to admit, those shades were pretty cool, if that's not an oxymoron.

"Don't mention it. Blaine was rocking back and forth nervously. It was almost as if he were waiting for Kurt to notice something important.

"Nice glasses." Blaine broke into a smile, which was rather endearing. Endearing. Not the way Kurt would describe most high school boys, especially since it was obvious this guy was older than him. "Well, I should get to class." Kurt stated awkwardly. He hurried away, not sure what to make of the whole exchange. But it didn't matter because his first class was math, and you know who else's first class was math? One Finn Hudson. As usual Kurt watched the teacher long enough to grasp the problem then spent the in-depth portion sneaking glances at Finn. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt about him, at first he's thought it was love at first sight, but when Finn participated in the bullying it was hard to think of him that way. But the fact was, whenever Finn did those little, subtle, helping things, Kurt's stomach felt like it was full of humming-birds. And the moment at the beginning of math class when everyone was getting seated and Finn would give him back whatever he'd taken from Kurt and thus saved from the dumpster? Well, frankly, that was one of his favorite parts of the day. Kurt would get there early and wait patiently while Finn sauntered in at a leisurely place with everyone else and as he passed Kurt's desk he would slip Kurt's things under the desk. Kurt always gazed into his eyes at this point and they always had this, _look_, about him. Kurt could never quite figure it out, but it was the closest thing he got to positive attention at this school, and he enjoyed every split-second of it.

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I would like to thank fizzy123 for reviewing.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Glee

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"I don't want to get lightning in my hair." - Pauly D

Chapter Three: Showmance - Part One

Blaine sighed. Last week had not gone as planned. He'd spied on Kurt's audition, which although good, wasn't quite up to the pure tone of his eighteen-year-old self that Blaine was used to. Still that was only to be expected. Mercedes and Rachel weren't quite as good as the elder versions he knew either. And Tina, he wasn't sure where to begin. Her rendition of I Kissed a Girl was nothing like the performance the glee girls had put on during Lady Music Week. Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat was dreadful. And Rachel had stormed out for all the wrong reasons. Don't Stop Believing was good, but the heavy Rachel/Finn thread was a bit annoying. Couldn't they feature at least one more person? The New Directions he knew usually had at least three soloists for a group number. He wasn't sure whether to join up or not. Someone might realize he wasn't really a student and he remembered the way Finn had reacted to his presence last year, or was that in two years? He wasn't sure how to describe time. But he did know that Finn had said he felt threatened by Blaine's talent. Well he had only improved since then and Sophomore Finn's voice was a bit weaker then senior-year Finn's. And without Kurt's support joining ND could be a pretty miserable experience if Finn decided to be protective of his spot-light. Really, sometimes he was just as big a diva as Rachel. No wonder they dated. Or were going to date.

Blaine leaned against a car and watched as Mr. Schuester approached.

"Mr. Schuester!" Blaine started as Rachel's shriek rent the air. She hurried up to Mr. Schuester babbling about song selection starring herself. Luckily Mr. Schuester cut her off. Good. Sometimes Blaine felt Mr. Schuester pandered to Rachel a little too much. Having her sing _Here's to Us _all by herself at Regionals was unnecessary. And her overexposure had led to Kurt failing to get into NYADA which was rather unfair considering Rachel had _It's All Coming Back To Me __and__ Paradise By the Dashboard Light_ to win Carmen over while he'd only had _Not the Boy Next Door_. And the fact Mr. Schuester assigned solos instead of holding any kind of auditions felt unfair. Finn had joined Rachel and Mr. Schue and he and Rachel headed off together. Mercedes, Tina and Artie showed up showing off some vocal runs. After hearing Mercedes sing _All I Want for Christmas is You_ these were rather un-impressive but Blaine still had to fight the urge to run over and join them. He'd barely heard from Mercedes since Graduation and he wanted to thank Tina for telling him about the footage of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Kurt had made a fabulous Riff-Raff. And he couldn't remember the last time he'd had a real conversation with Artie. He'd have to rectify these things when he got back to his own time. The group past out of his range of vision, from behind him he could hear Mr. Schuester greet Kurt. But it was Puck who answered with.

"Buenos nachos." Did he mean Buenas _noches? _But that was Good _night_ in Spanish? So what he should have said was Buen_os días_. Really, he could be so dumb sometimes. No wonder he almost didn't graduate. Then it hit him. Puck was a jerk in this time, so if he was answering… Blaine peeked around the edge of the car in time to see Kurt getting tossed over the side of the dumpster. Blaine winced. He was supposed to stop this kind of thing. At least Finn didn't seem to have any part in the bullying this time. Blaine hurried up as the jocks cleared out. One of them thrust Kurt's bag into his arms.

"Here, you can lug this thing around." Blaine placed his own bag on a bag of trash leaning next to the dumpster. Then he laid Kurt's bag carefully on top of it making sure no part of it was touching the garbage because Kurt would kill him if his bag got dirty before returning his attention to the dumpster where Kurt was watching him curiously. Blaine smiled nervously and offered a hand.

"Want some help." Kurt eyed him suspiciously. But to Blaine's surprise he swung his legs over the dumpster and took Blaine's hand. Blaine wanted to pause the moment, It had been weeks since he'd held Kurt's hand, But he just held still as Kurt hopped off the edge of the dumpster. Kurt's hand slid out of his again. And Blaine groaned inwardly. He turned to the pile of trash bags, picked up Kurt's bag, and spinning back to face him held it out. "Here's your bag Kurt, unharmed as you can see." Kurt took the bag slowly.

"Thank you Blaine, but why are you doing this? And how do you know my name? I don't think I told you last time we talked." _Right, boy am I dumb. I could probably give Puck lessons._

"I heard Mr. Schuester call you that." Kurt nodded.

"But you didn't answer my first question: Why are you doing this?"

"Do I need an excuse to be helpful and friendly?" Kurt gave him a sideways look. That sort of made Blaine want to ravish him. _Dapper thoughts Blaine. He's sixteen. Got that? Not eighteen. Not nineteen. Sixteen. Plus you're in the parking lot of a rather homophobic school, not your bedroom. Ravishing isn't an option. And he doesn't even really know who you are. Drat his lips are moving now, this isn't helping, is he trying to get kissed? Oh- wait, he's speaking._

"…guess not. But it's not the way most people think around here. Even Finn is never _this_ nice." _He isn't?_ _What kind of screwed up version of reality have I gotten myself into?_ "Look, I'd love to stay and chat, and I'd really love to know where you got that sweater, but I have to get to class."

"Right," Blaine stepped back awkwardly watching Kurt as he turned around and hurried towards the school facility. Blaine picked up his bag and headed after him. Thinking that maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all.

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I would like to thank Nurse Kate and MaitchelGleek for reviewing.

Note: Many of these chapters are incredibly short, but I will try to upload all the chapters that pertain to a single episode in the same day.


	4. Chapter 4

Still Don't Own Glee, if I did Kurt would have gotten into NYADA and Finn would be headed pretty much anywhere but the army. No offense to the army but it doesn't sound Finn-friendly and I may not always like Finn, but I don't want him dead or broken.

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"Even in a less exaggerated description, any verbal account of a person is bound to find itself employing an assortment of waterfalls, lightning rods, landscapes, birds, etc." - Sergei Eisenstein

Chapter Four: Showmance - Part Two

Kurt shook his head. He really wasn't sure what to make of Blaine. Could he really just be genuinely nice? It didn't seem very likely. There weren't very many people just like that, or at least not this nice. But he had to admit, that was an interesting sweater with that frilled collar. Kurt had never seen anything like it. And if there was one thing Kurt had seen a lot of, it was clothing. Also, there was just something about Blaine. Something that made Kurt want to trust him. Made him want to order him coffee and tell him all his secrets. Made him want to ask him what his favorite Vogue cover was, and whether he'd hold his hand and- What the heck? Where did that thought come from? Where did any of those thoughts come from? He couldn't order Blaine coffee; he didn't know what he liked to drink. Ask him what his favorite Vogue cover was? How about first finding out whether he even read Vogue? And where was that hand-holding idea coming from? He couldn't let I guy hold his hand, even if he wanted to. Everyone would see. Everyone would know. And he really couldn't let them, know. He wasn't ready for that. Besides, he liked Finn, didn't he? He plopped down at his desk and turned to look at the door. Right on cue Finn meandered in. Cue stomach-hummingbirds, cue loss of capability to speak English properly. Cue insides melting. Yep he liked Finn. So whatever was up with this Blaine guy was nothing to work himself up over.

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Like I said, incredibly short, but the rest of Showmance will be up by tonight. in fact I only have access to this computer until shortly before noon, so it will be up by then.


	5. Chapter 5

"If you are caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron." - Lee Trevino

Chapter Five: Showmance - Part Three

Blaine leaned against the door way of the choir room watching in intrigued as Mr. Schuester forced the ND kids to do disco. No wonder everyone thought disco sucked When Mike, Brittany, and I suggested it for Nationals. Mr. Schuester is completely butchering it. Rachel's foot came flying up in an un-elegant high-kick nearly hitting Mercedes in the face. Blaine shook his head as Mercedes stopped the performance with a signature:

"Hell-to-the-no." Rachel should really take some lessons from Kurt when it came to high-kicks. "Also, this song is terrible." He had to agree with Mercedes there. This is the worst performance of disco I've ever seen.

"It's not the song, you guys just need to get into it."

"No it's the song, it's really gay," Blaine blinked. Had that really just come out of Kurt's mouth? What in holy hell? Blaine shook his head in confusion. _Wait, is Kurt out yet?_ He realized he'd never found out the exact date he came out. But if he was in the closet at sixteen that would explain why he had said he admired that Blaine had come out when he was a Freshman. Well this development might interfere with the Go Back in Time and Be Kurt's Boyfriend a Year Early plan. Then again, if Kurt was getting dumpster-tosses before he came out that might explain why he didn't want to do anything to escalate the bullying. Blaine's thoughts were interrupted "They're gonna throw food at us, and I just had a facial." Blaine smiled. Ah well, it wasn't like he was going to stop loving Kurt all of a sudden.

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P.S. I don't own Glee


	6. Chapter 6

Owning Glee? Never have, never will.

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"We always expect tremendous criticism. It is my role to be the lightning rod ... to attract the attacks against the organization for our work, and that is a difficult role. On the other hand, I get undue credit." -Julian Assange

Chapter Six: Showmance - Part Four

Kurt sighed. Performing disco in front of an audience comprised of rowdy, rude lower-life-forms who hated him and the Glee Club already. It was going to be a nightmare. His gaze shifted to Finn, he really was pretty cute. And he was being nicer than ever now that they were in Glee together. Why just yesterday Kurt had gotten slammed into a locker and Finn had actually hurried over and asked if he was okay. It reminded Kurt of why he'd fallen for him in the first place. And he wasn't a bad singer either. What a sweet surprise that had been to start their second rehearsal off with _You're the One That I Want _and FINN HUDSON *_swoon_* singing lead. He didn't mind singing back up. It meant he'd gotten to say "Honey". It was silly but he really wanted to be able to call a guy "Honey". Ah well, _that_ wasn't going to happen. That accursed Prima Donna Rachel Berry strode in interrupting delicious fantasies that involved Finn, and duets, and candle-lit dinners, and pet names.

-"I officially call this meeting of the Glee Club in session." Kurt squinted at Rachel, annoyed. Why couldn't she let him day-dream in peace. And what was up with that gavel? Mercedes was calling Rachel Eva Peron which Kurt thought was more of a complement than an insult considering she was the main character in _Evita_. A musical almost as good as _Wicked_.

"Let her talk." What? Finn? Why was he so supportive? Kurt didn't want to dwell on this so he tuned back in to what Rachel was saying.

"They're not going to kill us, because we're going to give them what they want." Kurt thought back to all the locker slams, and slushies, and dumpster tosses. He thought he knew what that mob called the student body wanted, and it wasn't something _he_ was willing to sacrifice.

"Blood?" Kurt raised his eyebrows subtly.

"Better. Sex." Kurt started. That wasn't something he'd expected to come out of her mouth. But it wasn't a bad idea, it might even work. She started rambling about choreography.

"Kurt, you'll sort of, crouch, here behind Finn." Okay, he was hooked. "And swing your head back and forth to peep at the audience. Like in _Le Freak, _but sexier."


	7. Chapter 7

If I owned Glee this chapter wouldn't exist because the truth is i can't stand Push it or any of Glee's awkward/sexy performances so I got practically traumatized writing this because of how many times I had to watch it to get the choreography right. Also, I hope Blaine's thought-process felt realistic because I have literally _never_ gotten turned on in my life so I don't know how it feels. I just fudged the whole thing and blushed a lot.

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"I can rock out anything. I mean, I can rock out a little 'Time After Time'. I can do a little 'Grease Lightning'. It depends on the mood, but we do go karaoke, my friends and I in Los Angeles, and it's a lot of fun." - Kristen Bell

Chapter Seven: Showmance - Part Five

Blaine took a seat as the auditorium filled up. After one of Principle Figgins' odd, awkward announcements. Mr. Schuester took to the mike and said something cheesy that would never get anyone but the most clueless, obsessed-with-the-lime-light, sort of person to join. Blaine buckled down and prepared to royally _freak out. _Because Kurt was probably right about the whole fruit-throwing thing and watching Kurt and his friends get assaulted because Mr. Schuester thought everyone loved disco – if only – was going to be physically painful. The chances of this going off without a hitch were minute. The only good thing that could possibly come out of this is him getting a chance to clean Kurt off. And maybe it would wake Mr. Schuester up and improve his song selections. Mr. Schuester sat down and Blaine fought the urge to cover his eyes as the curtain went up. Then the music started. And it wasn't _Le Freak_. It wasn't disco, it wasn't an oldie, it wasn't even _Gold Digger_. It was modern, and there was something slightly obscene about it even before anyone started singing. Rachel, Tina, and Mercedes got in a line hands heaving on their chests. Everyone was panting a seething and Rachel opened her mouth but what came out was expressive talking.

"Ooh baby baby, ba-baby baby." But Blaine got really distracted because Kurt and Finn were doing something. Finn looked awkward and un-comfortable, but Kurt … I mean talk about ravishing. His hips were all over the place and his hands roamed his body in ways that reminded Blaine forcefully of a certain instance in his bedroom, shortly after West Side Story, which was un-virginal* to say the least. A memory of something Kurt had said during their first summer together about being a former exotic dancer flitted into his mind.** And he was really envying Mercedes for getting to dance with Kurt like that. Because, dancing? Hell, this was grinding. And now he was in envy of Rachel because Kurt had his hands on her hips. And god, Finn was just _not_ in his element. And – _What in holy hell? Did Kurt just slap Finn's butt?_ But Blaine didn't have to ask, because he knew he had. Out of everything he'd seen here this left him with the most foreboding. And now he was more than just jealous of Finn, he was – oh, - he couldn't quite place it.- but it was strong. It made him want to storm the stage and tell Finn to stay away from his boyfriend. And maybe punch him. But obviously he couldn't and for the moment it didn't matter because Kurt was doing some weird but insanely sexy move with the lower half of his body that Blaine wasn't sure he'd actually seen or whether he'd dreamed it. And down he was tossing his head, and his hair was bobbing which was something his Kurt's was too styled and full of hairspray to do. And he was dropping to the floor and slinking along like he was intent on doing nasty things with the first person he came across. And he just happened to be headed right for where Blaine was seated. Except he stood up and turned around not that this development was really less hot, because whatever the choreography was it apparently required him to lean over repeatedly and waggle his behind at the surrounding audience. It didn't matter much though seeing as Blaine's brain-cells were still pretty fried from that crawling Kurt had been doing a moment ago. Suddenly the song was over. Blaine was too stunned to react. But Jacob Ben Israel wasn't. He leapt to his feet and shouted

"YES!"

Blaine jumped up too along with the entirety of the McKinley student body. And now Kurt was looking adorably relieved to have made a good impression, and Blaine could see why Sam had wanted to sell sex at sectionals. Because it was pretty persuasive. He was swept away by the jubilant, hormone ridden, mob. It wasn't until he got to the car that he realized just how much the whole situation sucked. Because, seriously? He was supposed to watch that and get totally turned on and not even be able to make out with Kurt? This took sexually frustrated to new levels. He didn't need much. Just a couple deep kisses, or a little frenching or something. Blaine walked to the sign that proclaimed Welcome to McKinley High and banged his head on it. Well, he'd have to find away to get over it because he couldn't up and fly to New York just to kiss his boyfriend. If he could he'd do it more often. And there was no way he was going to come onto the Kurt in this reality. He barely knew Blaine. Blaine could be a little horny sometimes, but he wasn't a creep. Sighing dejectedly he resigned himself to his fate and leaning against the back of the sign let himself slip back to his reality.

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*For those of you who don't know what virginal means, (because I didn't until I looked it up) here's the definition:

vir·gin·al (vûrj-nl) adj.

1. Relating to, characteristic of, or befitting a virgin; chaste.

2. Remaining in a state of virginity.

3. Untouched or unsullied; fresh.

** If you don't know what I'm talking about with the whole exotic dancer thing, watch the Glee Live skit at: http:(/)(/) .com(/)#(/)watch?v=NFXATvmWKCs (just take out the parenthesis ) or look up Klaine Skit - Toronto, June 11th 2011


	8. Chapter 8

"Many injuries and deaths can be prevented through an understanding of the dangers of power lines, electrical appliances, extension cords, and lightning." - Richard Neal

Chapter Eight: Acafellas - Part One

Blaine sighed as he leaned against the row of lockers. Several couples nearby were kissing and actually Santana and Puck were border-line making out. _Wait,_ Santana _and Puck? Isn't She with Brittany? Isn't she Lesbian?_ Then Lady Music Week tickled at the back of his mind_. Oh, right. She was deep in the closet in sophomore year._ Blaine's gaze slid to another couple. The girl was gazing lovingly up into the guy's eyes as he rested his hand on her cheek. Blaine felt unbearably lonely. Last week's performance at the assembly was still fresh in his mind and it wasn't helping that Kurt was approaching his locker which was torturously, a mere ten feet away. Mercedes seemed to be thinking along similar lonely lines.

"Have you ever kissed anybody?"

"Yes," Blaine started. _What?_ "If by someone you mean the tender crook of my elbow." Blaine relaxed. Of course Kurt hadn't been kissed. He had known Blaine when he'd gotten kissed. Blaine had been the first person he'd told. Kurt was just showing off his quick wit. "No, I haven't. But I want to." Kurt gave this sigh that made Blaine want to go over there and fulfill that request. "Okay, Mercedes. Stop it right there. We are in Glee Club. That means we are at the bottom of the social heap. Special Ed. kids will get more play than we will. The only thing that gets me by is my knowledge that we, are superior, to all, of _them_." Kurt's eyes swept the surrounding student body and they passed over Blaine making him feel rather hurt even though he knew Kurt didn't really mean him personally. Kurt hooked his arm in Mercedes' and they began walking toward him. He felt his pulse quicken. "What are you wearing on our operation Dakota Stanly field trip?" they passed Blaine and he followed them surreptitiously listening in.

"Is there a dress-code?"

"No, but every moment of your life is an opportunity for fashion. We'll hit the mall after school. Meet me at lunch." That was his Kurt, always thinking about clothes and appearance. – Although he did seem to make an exception when they were making out. – Mercedes gave a quiet 'okay.' And Kurt swept away. Quinn and Santana appeared out of nowhere as Mercedes waved goodbye to Kurt.

"You should totally tap that." Blaine spluttered. _What did Quinn just say?_

"I don't think I'm his type." She'd better not be or Blaine had some giant misconceptions about his boyfriend. Santana stroked Mercedes hair. Whoa, was she into her or something? That would explain why they'd done so many duets together.

"Oh, I think you are. Just follow our lead; we've got your back." There was something about Quinn's tone of voice. If he didn't know better he would say she was _trying_ to get Mercedes hurt. He shook his head from side-to-side as it reeled with all the new information about crushes and possible crushes, and certain heart-break he hadn't been there for. Well one thing was certain. Kurt was still in the closet all right. Never-the-less, he had to help Mercedes. He ran a few steps to catch up to her and the two Cheerios.

"Ah- I don't mean to butt in but are you sure he's the best choice? Kurt's a great guy but why not set her up with someone who's a little more of a… jock? Like… Sam Evans!" They all looked at him like he was insane.

"Who?" Quinn was giving him a particularly vicious glare. Oh dear, were they dating? Wait, that couldn't be it. This year was the one she'd dated Finn and had Puck's baby. Oh, Sam didn't go here yet! That was it! They didn't know who he was.

"Never mind. Mercedes, just, be careful. I'd hate for you to get hurt and as much as Kurt cares about you I'm pretty darn sure his feelings are platonic." Mercedes shook her head side to side like she was trying to clear it.

"Okay, first of all: My heart, is my business. Second of all: What would you know about either of us? I haven't spoken a word to you before in my life. And third of all: Why do you care?" Blaine was taken aback. He stood there opening and closing his mouth. He and Mercedes hadn't spent a lot of time together but she was still the first ND member Kurt had introduced him to. Breadsticks, Coffee, My Favorite Things Quartet in the Glee Holiday Spectacular… How could she say he didn't care? He might not be a member of the God Squad, he may not have contacted her since she went off to college – though he would certainly do that once he got back in his own reality – How could she judge him so harshly. Blaine took a deep breath and reminded himself that none of those things had happened yet.

"Sorry, I must seem pretty weird. I'll just – I'll just go then… "He turned away and walked off forlornly. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. Mercedes was behind him.

"Hey, I wasn't tryin' to hurt ya feelings white boy, I'm just not used to getting noticed in a nice way."

"It's okay, and I'm half Filipino."

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So, another chapter. I promise I'll have the rest of the episode up in a few hours. This one only has two parts, but Preggers has like four or five and will be up later this week so hopefully that will make up for it.

Also, the plotlines for some chapters are already set in stone, but many are flexible. In fact, after Rhodes Not Taken the first half of the season hasn't really been planned out yet (apart from Sectionals and a tiny bit of Mash-up). so if you have any ideas for stuff you'd like to see Blaine see, do, or change, leave a review or PM me and I'll see what I can do. Note: It can't involve Blaine joining ND, that comes later.


	9. Chapter 9

"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." - Mark Twain

Chapter Nine: Acafellas – Part Two

Kurt examined the price tag on a scarf. Mercedes tapped his shoulder. H turned to see her holding up two shirts.

"What do you think, Magenta or Dark Green?" Kurt took the shirts and held them each up to Mercedes in turn, squinting at her through one eye. His gaze shifted to something behind her.

"You should defiantly go with the magenta, but," He marched past her to a rack of headbands, "you should wear this with it." He held up a broad cloth headband the same shade of green as the shirt he'd advised against. Mercedes quirked an eyebrow at him. Kurt sighed and grabbing hand dragged her over to the mirror he held up the shirt and slipped the head band on. "See, the magenta is bold, the green is understated and with the right pants…" He cast around for the appropriate item but Mercedes beat him to it.

"What about these?" She held up a pair of low-cut overalls. Kurt looked at them like they were the Messiah.

"Oh my god those are perfect." Mercedes smiled as he cooed over the ensemble.

"Kurt?"

"Mm-hm." She bit her lip.

"Do you know some half-Filipino guy named Blaine?" Kurt tensed. Blaine… that did sound familiar…

"Maybe…"

Sorta older but on the shorter side, dark hair slicked back with gel, well-dressed, eyebrows shaped like triangles…" Oh… the guy who'd stood up for him the first day of school and helped him out of the dumpster last week."

"I may have spoken to him a couple of times, why?"

"Oh I was just talking to him earlier today and he mentioned you." Kurt frowned. _He mentioned me? Why? We've exchanged maybe, ten sentences? Why would he be talking about me?_

"What did he say?" Mercedes leaned against the nearest rack.

"Not much. He seemed to think you were pretty cool." Whoa someone thought he was cool? A _guy_ thought he was cool? That was new.

"I-I don't know why that would be. We've barely said a word to each other and the times we have involved a bunch of jocks chucking me into a dumpster shortly before or after."

"Well, he seemed like a pretty cool guy too. Maybe we could get him to join Glee. God knows we need new members." Kurt fiddled with a button on his shirt. Something about this Blaine guy was a little bit… off. He seemed friendly and all, but there was… something. He couldn't place it. Part of Kurt wanted to go find him this instant, and drag him back to his house, and watch silly romantic comedies with him. Or maybe movie-musicals. Part of him wanted to drag this Blaine to Breadstix or a coffee shop and just listen to him talk. That part of Kurt scared the rest of him. It made the rest of him never want to see Blaine ever again. There was only one thing that sorted out his thoughts when he felt confused and torn like this, so he excused himself and made his way to the bathroom. Locking himself in the nearest empty stall Kurt pulled out his phone and flipped through it to a photo of Finn he'd taken during Glee rehearsal. Kurt closed the toilet seat and sat down on it. Pulling his knees up to his chest he curled around the glowing image. Blaine seemed nice and all, but Finn? Finn was his crush. Finn was tall and strong and a pretty decent singer. He could be sweet and, as he'd shown when Mr. Schuester left, he could be a good leader when he wanted to. He was the guy who'd stuck up for Kurt when Puck slammed him into lockers, and took his more expensive accessories when Puck tossed him in dumpsters. He hadn't even been involved in the lawn-furniture-roof-nailing. There was still a niggle in the back of his head reminding him that Blaine had stuck up for him too, and caught him when he'd been tossed. And he'd helped him out when the jocks had gone away, and had _never_ participated in _any_ bullying activities as far as Kurt could tell. But Kurt ignored the niggle and concentrated on the most important thing. When he looked at Blaine he felt something slightly warm and fuzzy. When Blaine had caught him he'd felt incredibly… safe. But when he looked at Finn there were butterflies in his stomach, and he became rather breathless, and his chest hurt so much he thought his heart would burst. When he looked at Finn he felt _everything_. And when he looked at Blaine he only felt vaguely nice. Kurt pocketed his phone and exited the bathroom. His mind was made up. He loved Finn Hudson, and nothing could really change that.

* * *

Hmm, Blaine has his work cut out for him.


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own Glee, or Caberet for that matter.

* * *

"Sometimes, when I drive across the desert in the middle of the night, with no other cars around, I start imagining: What if there were no civilization out there? No cities, no factories, no people? And then I think: No people or factories? Then who made this car? And this highway? And I get so confused I have to stick my head out the window into the driving rain-unless there's lightning, because I could get struck on the head by a bolt." - Jack Handy

Chapter Ten: Preggers – Part One

Blaine was beginning to feel a bit useless. He was still too nervous to join Glee Club or approach Kurt. He wanted to do something, he just wasn't sure what. As he leaned against the side of a row of lockers he heard Finn's voice.

"What's with the silent treatment? Whatever I did I'm, sorry…"

"I'm pregnant." Oh right. That was the drama this year. Baby-gate was still famous when Blaine had first joined the New Directions. Though that may have been mostly because the woman who had adopted her had shown back up to direct the Trouble Tones and reconnect with Rachel. Because apparently she was her mom too. It was times like these Blaine missed the simplicity of the Warblers. Then again their posh formalities had evidently prevented them from viewing him and Kurt as family the way the New Directions did. Yes, the New Directions were overdramatic, dysfunctional, and sometimes downright mean. But when it came down to it, they had each other's backs. They understood why Kurt transferred and rather than viewing him as an enemy, had begun to count the rest of the Warblers as friends. Blaine had been insulted, belittled and often simply ignored when he'd first joined. But when he'd taken that slushy everyone rallied around him. Santana had driven clear to Westerville to confront the Warblers. Kurt had organized the Black and White performance, he Finn and Rachel had sung Ben to him, and he'd gotten visits and cards from every last one of his teammates. Yes, the Dodge Ball incident had been very similar to the Warblers Great Betrayal. But Rory had come away needing a tissue not surgery, and the Trouble Tones had stopped harassing the New Directions that week rather than a month later after attempting to black mail them with photo shopped pictures.

Blaine snapped back to the present. Finn was asking if it was his and Quinn was saying

"Of course yours, who else's would it be?" Blaine bit his lip. Uh, Puck's? But he kept his thoughts to himself. Changing this piece of the past was too risky. He turned and began to walk away. Then he saw it. A huge poster reading:

CABARET

Now Cabaret was a rather weird musical that was sort of like The Rocky Horror Picture Show set in Germany during the rise of the Nazis. But there were very few singing roles: Sally Bowles, this random Nazi boy who is quickly joined by other Nazis and Nazi supporters, and Emcee. Blaine thought about West Side Story and being Tony because Kurt was more flamboyant, and Kurt not getting into NYADA. Oh my god, that's what I can do. I can get him credentials so that maybe the Kurt in here won't go through all that. It didn't matter if Kurt was a little flamboyant, or if his motions were slightly affected, because that is exactly what Emcee was about. Emcee was Kurt's part. Speak of the devil. Blaine turned a little to his left and saw Kurt staring at the poster. Taking a deep breath he moved so he was standing on Kurt's right, and a little behind him.

"You thinking about auditioning?" Kurt started and Blaine internally cursed himself.

"Ah, I don't know… I have Glee and… "

"I think you should. No one could bring as much to Emcee as you. And he really is the male lead when it comes to vocals."

"I guess…"

"Come on! I was at the assembly; anyone could see you were the true diva. Rachel just stifled you, but you could outshine her if you wanted to. Don't put yourself in a box. Don't sign yourself off as back-up. You've got potential." Kurt stared at him as if he had never seen him before in his life.

"You really think that much of me after seeing me sing back-up in… Push It?" Okay he needed to be slightly more honest if he didn't want Kurt thinking he was messing with him.

"I may have possibly, sort of, kind of overheard your audition. But it was an accident I swear! I'm not stalking you or anything!" _That's right Blaine, lie to the kid._ Kurt was still giving him weird looks. But instead of running away like Blaine frankly couldn't have blamed him for doing, he just looked at him a moment.

"What do you think I should audition with?" Blaine blinked a couple times then slipped into full blown gush mode.

"Oh there are so many directions you could go with this: you could sing something from Cabaret to show how well you would embody the role. You could sing something with very high notes and very low notes to show off your range. You could doing something with a fast beat that you could dance to so they can see what a fabulous dancer you are, or you could sing something slow and sad and epic to show off your voice and ability to portray emotion." Kurt just stared at him.

"Umm, and you know I have a wide vocal range, sweet moves, and heart-breaking theatricality… how? Because there's no way you learned all that from spying on my audition."

"I-Uh-well, just trust me. Please? I know you can do this. What's the worst that could happen? You don't get the role which you weren't really planning on trying out for anyway."

"I guess. I'll think about it on my own. I don't really know you. So if I decide to audition, it will be because _I decided_ to audition.

* * *

Gah, ending sucks, but that's why I'm putting up the rest of this chapter now. I hope I didn't spend too long on that Trouble Tones/Dodge-Ball vs. Warblers/Tainted-Slushy paragraph. I just felt that whole thing needed to be addressed. And I wanted to justify why I felt more forgiving of the Trouble Tones than I did the Warblers.


	11. Chapter 11

Still don't own Glee, really wish I did.

* * *

"Enthusiasm is the leaping lightning, not to be measured by the horse-power of the understanding." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Chapter Eleven: Preggers – Part Two

Kurt was predictably bored by the whole football experience. Sitting on the bench watching his teammates losing a game he didn't care about was dull obviously. Watching the football team dancing was pretty entertaining, but watching them struggle to learn choreography he'd mastered ages ago was rather boring. But doing his own little reprise before winning the game was kind of _thrilling_. And being born away on the shoulders of his new team while the audience went wild and his dad went wilder was definitely the happiest experience he'd had in a long time. He was lowered to the ground and the football players dispersed as they were swamped by members of the crowd. Kurt got shoulder pats, and high fives and at some point someone looped a scarf around his neck from behind, when he'd turned around he couldn't tell who had done it. – Not that he was complaining, whoever had given him the scarf had impeccable taste. - And he was pretty sure someone had kissed his cheek at some point. He excused himself quickly so he could change while the lockers room was mostly empty. He thought about what Blaine had said about auditioning for _Cabaret_ and as he did his facial routine he ran through songs he could do that would combine elements that Blaine had suggested. _Hmm, a song that has a wide range, lots of emotion, and I could dance to… Well I could always rearrange a number a little to show off my range, so… dancing and emotion…_ And then his dad was coming down the stairs and it was time to own up to who he was.

* * *

I know, short. And you're probably wondering where a lavish description of Blaine's expirience of the game is. That's for the next chapter so check back! Also I forgot to thank Nurse Kate and Amore308 for their kind reviews. Especially Nurse Kate who has reviewed _three_ times! I can't believe someone likes this enough to review it so much. Thank you.


	12. Chapter 12

I don't own Glee, or Beyonce.

* * *

"One hears but one does not seek; one takes - one does not ask who gives; a thought flashes up like lightning, it comes of necessity and unfalteringly formed." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Chapter Twelve: Preggers – Part Three

Blaine didn't know what he'd been expecting when he'd come to the football game. He knew that the team had sucked before Coach Beiste and that certainly wasn't Shannon sitting by the sidelines now as the Titans took their places behind them. Blaine eyed the players easily recognizing Finn for his height, and Puck for his Mohawk. He was surprised to not see Dave Karofsky but spotted Mike. His eyes were drawn to the smallest player… no… it couldn't be… But there was no mistaking that hair, that posture. _Kurt was on the football team? Oh, I think I remember something about that, didn't the whole team dance or something?_ Blaine didn't have much time to dwell on it because the game was starting. And oh, yes the team sucked. They were lucky the other team sucked too because they weren't scoring anything. It was almost as bad as the first half of the Championship Game Blaine had come to while he was still at Dalton. But without the excuse of having half the team be comprised of members who had never played football in their life. The memory made Blaine wrap his arms around himself. He had never been to a Titans game without the Hummel-Hudsons and doing so made him feel lonely. Then it was halftime and the football players were milling about by the bench except Kurt who was jumping up and down, and shouting, and waving… in his direction. Is he waving at me? Has he been noticing me after all?

"Dad! Dad!" Nope he must be yelling at Burt. "I told you! I told you!" Blaine ripped his gaze away from this equally adorable younger version of his boyfriend to scan the crowd behind him. Sure enough Burt was sitting a couple rows back. But he was tugging his cap down farther over his face and giving this tiny half wave. Weird. Blaine turned back in time to see Kurt doing high kicks. The game started again. The Titans continued to do terribly. With mere seconds left on the clock Blaine realized he must have been wrong about the dancing thing and was probably about to watch the Titans lose. Then came the most unexpected twist to the evening. Finn called a time-out with a mere second to spare, and before Blaine could do more than think: _What exactly does he think he can do?_ The team was back into position, and Single Ladies was blasting through the PA system. And the entire team was dancing. Blaine was at a loss for words, he was at a loss for thoughts. This was way more unexpected and… well… _feminine_ then Thriller/Heads Will Roll. And then Finn was tossing the ball to Puck, and it was a tie, and Kurt was walking out onto the field because apparently he was the kicker. And Blaine's breath caught in his throat. If Kurt messed up the school would hate him an unbearable amount. And now Single Ladies was playing and Kurt was dancing and Football players were charging at him, and Blaine's heart was stopping…

And Kurt was kicking the football through the air, through the uprights and scoring the goal to win the game. Now everyone was screaming, Blaine turned to see Burt clutching at everyone nearby and shouting proudly. He turned back to see Kurt being lifted up and carried through the air blowing kisses at the crowd. And one of those kisses Blaine would have sworn was directed at him. That did it. Because his boyfriend, had just won a football game, and what was he doing in the stands while a bunch of strangers ran over to congratulate him? Blaine jumped out of his seat and sprinted across the field to where Kurt was being lowered and properly thanked and congratulated. Blaine wanted to loop his scarf around Kurt's neck and kiss him like all the other players girlfriends were doing. But he was hit by a Thought that sapped the warmth from the moment. So he did loop his scarf around Kurt's neck, but from behind. And he did kiss him, but on the cheek. And then he left him to whatever would happen next and returning to his own dimension, collapsed onto the bed, and cried for a long time.

* * *

Sad ending. sorry, but it's going to take a while to find out what's bugging Blaine.


	13. Chapter 13

I don't own Glee. If I did the this chapter would have been Canon.

* * *

"And when I breathed, my breath was lightning." - Black Elk

Chapter Thirteen: Preggers - Part Four

Kurt took a deep breath and stepped out on the auditorium stage.

"Hi, I'm Kurt Hummel, and I'll be auditioning for the role of Emcee. I'll be singing _The Music and the Mirror _from _A Chorus Line_." Sue and Sandy made notes on their pads. Kurt took a deep breath and let the music wash over him.

_Give me somebody to dance for._

_Give me somebody to show._

_Let me wake up in the morning to find,_

_I have somewhere exciting to go._

Kurt raised his hands, positioning them as if getting ready to dance with someone and waltzed across the stage with his non-existent partner.

_Give me somebody to dance with._

_Give me a place to fit in._

_Help me return to the world of the living,_

_By showing me how to begin!_

Kurt moved to center-stage facing Sue and Sandy and swayed with the tune.

_Play me the music,_

_Give me the chance to come through!_

_Al I ever needed, was the music, and the mirror,_

_And the chance, to dance, for you!_

The instrumental part started and Kurt threw himself into the choreography. Left hand, right hand, kick, turn, left hand, right hand, turn, kick, leap!

_Play me the music!_

_Play me the music! Play me the musiiic!_

Kurt rushed downstage throwing his arms out entreatingly. The music slowed down taking on a jazzy quality. Kurt's movements slowed down too. He slowly lowered himself to the floor so he was lying on his back then stood up again gliding slowly about revolving almost lazily, then faster and faster as the music sped up. Soon he was practically a blur then the music stopped abruptly and so did Kurt, facing the nearly empty auditorium and the two people seated there.

* * *

Sue and Sandy murmured to each other for a moment.

"He's in the Glee club too," Sue informed Sandy, "if we get Berry to quit he could very well replace her and even though they would need another member they would obviously have plenty of talent." Sandy nodded.

"We have two options, we could tear him down right now and tell him he's terrible and hopefully destroy his self-esteem enough he won't consider himself star material, or…"

"We could tell him he's good too and start a feud!" Sue reached over and spoke into her mike.

"We're obligated to give everyone a chance to audition before we announce who got the role but, there's a ninety-nine point nine chance it will be you. Check the cast list tomorrow to be sure." Kurt gaped at her a minute before bowing/curtsying profusely.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

The next day the cast list went up saying Rachel and Kurt were playing Sally Bowles and Emcee. The next day Tina got a solo and Rachel's triumphant announcement at getting the female lead in the musical was overshadowed by Kurt's announcement of his role. The next day Rachel quit Glee, and Kurt became determined to prove he was just as solo worthy as anyone else.

* * *

Well Blaine's finally caused drastic changes to the plot. Also, I know I abandoned Kurt's POV back there, but I felt it Sue and Sandy's motivation was needed.

Next: How will April Rhodes affect Kurt's boosted self esteem and champaign for more solo time?


	14. Chapter 14

If I owned Glee you would know by now.

* * *

Chapter Fourteen: Rhodes Not Taken – Part One

_Da-da dadada_

_Da-da dadada_

_Da-da dadada_

_Da-da-shout- out._

Finn stepped out of the line.

_A singer in a smoky room,_

Quinn joined him.

_The smell of wine and cheap perfume._

Quinn turned away suddenly clutching her stomach. The music halted as she fled towards the bathroom. Kurt watched, deep in thought, as Finn rambled on about bad burritos. Then he raised his hand.

"Can we please talk about the giant elephant in the room?" Santana cut in with:

"Your sexuality?" after everything had gone so well with his dad Kurt had come out to the rest of the school.

"Quinn's inability to rehearse this number and Rachel's absence, face it Mr. Schue Quinn can't make it through one rehearsal without having to make a dash for the bathroom at least four or five times. And Rachel's the only other girl you would put on lead vocals."

"Yeah, well Rachel's gone. We need to find a way to move on."

"My point exactly. Rachel left because she got the lead in Cabaret. Do you remember which other Broadway-belting Glee member was recently cast in a lead singing role in our school musical? One Kurt Hummel. Face it Mr. Schue, I'm the only one with the range and theatricality to replace our lost prima-donna."

"Um Kurt, I'm sure you're very good. But we need a female for the female lead." Mercedes stepped in.

"Why, if Kurt can do it, why not let him? We need to place at Regionals which means we need to be the best we can be, if Kurt's the best for this part, why not let him at it. This doesn't mean I don't expect more solos for me in the future, though. Mercedes Jones is just as good a diva as Kurt or Rachel."

"Thank you Mercedes." Mr. Schue thought for a minute. "fine. Kurt you can try out the female lead until Quinn gets back. From the top!"

Once again Finn stepped forward.

_Just a small town girl. Living in a lonely world. _

_She took the midnight train going an-y-where._

This time Kurt followed. Taking a deep breath, he belted out the lines with everything he had.

_Just a city boy! Born and raised in South Detroit._

_He took the midnight train going an-y-where._

They kept going. Kurt poured everything he had into every syllable he sang and by the end he felt drained. But it was worth it to see Mr. Schue looking sort of impressed. Then Finn spoke and killed his momentary happiness.

"B-but if I sing about 'a small-town girl,' won't it be weird to have a boy step out?" _Great, how am I ever going to get Finn to like me if he's always so uptight about stuff like this?_

"Well, that part can still be Quinn's, and Kurt can take the other verses."

* * *

I hate how complacent Kurt can be some times so I had him stick up for himself more.

Also this is my first update since those deleted scenes were released and can I just say:

I want you back was just how I pictured it with Sebastian sorta coming onto Blaine. I also loved the little Blainetana bit at the end.

The box scene was interesting because they released the script first so it was easier to appreciate Chris and Darren's acting.

We also got to see how much of the script wasn't actually in the scene. Kurt's confusing tangent about eloping was cut and (sadly) that "I love you" never got said either. I pictured them hugging when I read it and they did!

On that note, people have mentioned that in all three of the Klaine kisses (four if you count the Dublin skit) Blaine initiates it.

Well I wanted to mention that Kurt initiates all three of their hugs. (Four if you count the box scene.) Just something to think about.


	15. Chapter 15

I don't own Glee also, several people expressed confusion over the whole AU time-traveling thing. and since spoilers suggest Blaine might not be in the mood to go visit Kurt I decided to use his portion of this chapter to explain how the whole set-up works.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Rhodes Not Taken – Part Two

After everything that went down in New York Blaine wasn't really in the mood to go visiting Other Kurt in his alternate universe. I mean, the whole idea was pretty crazy to think about. A month-and-a-half ago he would have said it was insane, and impossible…

_Blaine had been taking a walk in the park when he realized he'd strayed off the path and into the surrounding woods he was just about to retrace his steps when he saw a light through the branches. Cautiously he made his way towards it. Pushing back the branches Blaine saw that the light appeared to be spilling out of a tall, thin rectangular piece of air. Right next to the patch of light was a handle apparently mounted on thin air. Curious, Blaine reached for the handle and pulled on it._

_Nothing happened._

_He tugged it up._

_Nothing._

_He pushed it down._

_Nada._

_He yanked it to his right._

_The strip of light widened and Blaine could see what looked like McKinley High parking lot. Blaine blinked rapidly._ I'm dreaming, that must be it. This kind of stuff doesn't happen in real life._ Still he couldn't help but investigate, slipping into a sunlit replica of his school. But there were subtle differences. Graffiti that had been there for months had vanished. The dumpsters were missing less paint. Mr. Figgins' old car was still there, intact. As Blaine looked around in wonder Mr. Schue came out holding a newspaper and chatting with the teacher who had the nervous breakdown while he had been recovering from the slushy._

_The teachers went their separate ways Blaine ran up to Mr. Schuester as he headed for his broken down blue car. But the license plate just had random numbers and letters instead of the word 'glee'._

"_Mr. Schuester? Excuse me? Mr. Schuester!" the man looked up._

"_Hello? School doesn't start for another week; do you need to meet with a teacher?"_

"_No I just wanted to ask if that's today's paper." Mr. Schue looked down at the news-print in his hand._

"_Oh, well yes it is." He held it up. Blaine's eyes zeroed in on the year: 2009._


	16. Chapter 16

I'm sorry I didn't get this whole chapter up in a single day like I promised, but I've been really busy and didn't have the rest of the chapter finished. I still don't so you will probably have to wait a few more days for the last couple parts. Also I don't own Glee.

* * *

Chapter Sixteen: Rhodes Not Taken – Part Three

Despite the salvaging of Don't Stop Believing Mr., Schue knew that the New Directions still needed a twelfth member. Also he'd been thinking about his high school crush April a lot lately and was really curious about what happened to her.

And that's how Kurt found himself faced with an elderly blonde Rachel at Glee rehearsal.

"…This is April Rhodes, our newest member."

"Wait, so old people can join Glee Club now?" _Classy, Finn. But he does have a point._

"Old huh?" _And now she's going to throw a diva fit. _Then Artie was calling it a" terrible idea", Mr. Schue was defending April's talent.

And then the real blows hit. Mercedes was saying "she's no Rachel" and Tina was calling Rachel "Kind of our star." And Kurt was _sick_ of it.

"Kind of your star, eh? Well where is she?" _You know what? I might actually like this April woman, because those are my thoughts exactly._

"Mr. Schue, why are you doing this? We worked out Don't Stop Believing; you don't need to drag senior citizens in."

"She left, to be the female lead in Cabaret. I would like to note that despite being cast in the lead male singing role, I have stuck by my fellow Glee Clubbers." Kurt gave Mr. Schue, Mercedes, and Tina pointed looks.

"Yes, thank you Kurt." Mr. Schue cut him off, April removed her jacket.

"Hey Tinkles, give me Maybe This Time in B flat. And don't let me catch ya snoozin'."

The music started and then Ms. Rhodes began to sing. She wasn't perfect, but her voice fit the song. At first she reminded him of Tina, nervous and afraid of falling short. But then she got into it, and Kurt saw the star power Mr. Schue claimed she had. _Wow that's a beautiful song._ Kurt found he had tears rolling down his cheeks as April belted in her imaginary spotlight. _And really, who wouldn't be moved?_

And that's how he found himself with April in the empty choir room the next day samplings some of her liquid courage. It tasted dreadful and was probably alcoholic, and illegal, and a very bad idea. But when she threw in that bit in about the courage… he had always had an affinity for that word. He couldn't explain it. But it had always been very important to him.

And those Muscle magazines didn't hurt.

Meanwhile Cabaret rehearsals had become Hummel vs. Berry tournaments. Sandy would say something like,

"I'm thinking of turning _Cabaret_ into an Emcee song." And then Rachel would rush to defend her rights to the song, and Kurt would insist he could pull it off and then they would have a diva-off over it. Sandy would tell Rachel she was terrible, she would accuse him of attempting to steal here spotlight, and he would give it back to her. This time he was supposedly considering changing _Willkommen _into a Sally song. They battled it out fiercely and after yelling abuse at both of them he gave it back to Kurt. Rehearsal ended and Rachel fled the room after delivering her usual "I'm the star not you" speech to Kurt and Mr. Ryerson.

Kurt headed off to Glee and was surprised to find he was the first one there. Mr. Schue came in a moment later. He set down his bags with a thump and sheet music spilled out on the floor. Kurt knelt to help him gather it up when a familiar title grabbed his attention. Handing the rest back to Mr. Schue Kurt stared at the papers in his hand.

"Thank you Kurt."

"Is this Defying Gravity?" Will looked over at him in surprise.

"Oh, yeah. I was planning on giving that to Rachel in a couple weeks to make up for _Tonight_, but she quit. I guess I'll have to find a different song to make my show tunes lesson about. I don't think it's really April's style."

"I could sing it."

"Kurt. It's a girl song. And it has a high F in it."

"I can sing it. I can hit high A."

"Kurt. I'll find something else for you to do. We've got our Invitational coming up. I'm thinking of April doing Last Name, and _Somebody to Love_ with Finn."

"We could do the original version and April could sing Glinda's part."

"Kurt! I'm done talking about this. There will be other songs."

Kurt stormed home annoyed. By the time he reached the Hummel Tires and Lube shop though, he was out of steam. He heaved a sigh as approached his father and handed him whatever tools he asked for. He kept handing over the wrong ones though and offering half-heartedly apologies.

His dad blamed his hair products for his lack of enthusiasm and concentration. After a while he asked what was up.

"C'mon guy. You can fix a car with your eyes closed. What's eating at ya. Wait, it's not like a crush thing or something is it? 'Cause I'm not quite ready for that yet."

"Ah, nonono. It's a glee club thing. Our director has the sheet music to one of my favorite songs and he would rather throw it out than let me sing it."

"Why's that?" Kurt explained about the gender gap and Burt pointed out ways the gender gap was closing, and they talked for a few seconds about how upset Kurt was about it. Then they went on with repairing the car.

The next day Kurt decided it was time to bust out some of April's gifts. He didn't know how much he should drink. Or which – of the many different kinds she'd given him – would work the best. So he had two swallows of each. His vision went a little fuzzy. His stomach began to feel unpleasant, as though he'd been reading during a long car trip. He slipped on his suit jacket and hurried out the door and away to school.

Where he threw up on the Guidance Counselor.

And got taken to the hospital.

Luckily he didn't need his stomach pumped, and it got Ms. Pillsbury to confront Will about how he ran Glee Club. And then to everyone's surprise Burt stormed into school and did the same thing. It was fortunate Kurt had managed to convince them not to call his dad when it turned out the booze had no serious effects.

And that's how he found himself watching Mr. Schue send Rachel out of the choir room so he could audition for Defying Gravity. Finn was there too and Kurt couldn't help but jealously wonder what they were up to.

* * *

I know, the whole Defying Gravity debacle was four episodes away or so but I can't think of enough things to write about in Vitamin D, Throw Down and Mash-Up, so I thought I'd stick the Wheels plot-line in here and skip right to Ballad.

Also, I really wanted Kurt to get a solo in front of an actual audience.

But if you have any scenes you wanted me to write about in any of those episodes leave me a review or a PM and I'll see what I can do.


End file.
